Overview

Although International Humanitarian Law regulates various aspects of warfare, it remains silent on suicide attacks. Suicide Attacks and International Humanitarian Law interrogates this omission, arguing that it reflects underlying biases and rigid binaries within International Humanitarian Law that struggle to accommodate complex narratives of agency surrounding the deaths of suicide attackers. In this comparative study, Vishakha V. Wijenayake juxtaposes International Humanitarian Law principles with cultural narratives surrounding three distinct cases: the Kamikaze pilots of World War II, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's female suicide attackers in the Sri Lankan non-International Armed Conflict, and martyrdom operations conducted by jihadist non-State armed groups. Integrating insights from anthropology, philosophy, and religious studies, this book analyzes the nuanced embodiments of agency in these contexts, revealing how cultural depictions of suicide attackers challenge International Humanitarian Law's traditional victim-perpetrator binary. These narratives present suicide attackers not as passive instruments of violence, but as individuals whose actions are laden with cultural and collective meanings that unsettle International Humanitarian Law's reductive approach to combatant agency. Through its analysis, Suicide Attacks and International Humanitarian Law forwards a critical framework for engaging with diverse conceptions of intentionality and agency, advocating for more culturally inclusive approaches within International Humanitarian Law.

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9780197812143

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08/12/2025

Author Information

Vishakha V. Wijenayake earned her Doctor of Civil Law from McGill University, where her thesis explored International Humanitarian Law through a critical lens. A former O'Brien Fellow and recipient of the Fonds de recherche du Québec grant, she holds an LLM from the University of Michigan (Fulbright Scholar, Hugo Grotius Fellow) and an LLB from the University of Colombo. With experience as a legal advisor at the International Committee of the Red Cross and as a lecturer in law at University of Jaffna, her peer-reviewed publications explore International Humanitarian Law, International Human Rights Law, transitional justice, and pluralism.

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